Though India continues to be preferred outsourcing destination, accounting for almost 60 per cent of world’s outsourcing jobs, China, according to Nasscom, is however, making fast progress.
“Infrastructure wise, they are ahead and a large number of people are learning English in China. There is no scope for complacency as they move very fast, Nasscom President Kiran Karnik, said here releasing the report.
China has set in motion a programme to promote ten cities as outsourcing base and expects to attract 100 multinational enterprises as an outsourcing base.
These companies are expected to assist in the generation of 1,000 enterprises which can undertake offshore outsourcing in a big way, it said. “While China is unlikely to catch on India’s lead in global services sourcing over next three to five years, however, it must not be ignored,” cautioned Mr Karnik. Unlike India, domestic market accounts for 86 per cent of total IT software and service revenues in China which was estimated at $10.5 billion in 2006. In the same year, export market worth only $1.8 billion. Interestingly it is actually a growth of 41 per cent from pervious year.
Joint initiative
 India, on the other hand, is miles ahead in export. Indian ITeS-BPO exports are mainly serving the US and the UK markets, which together account for over 80 per cent of total exports. On the other hand, China’s key export markets are Japan and Korea, where it has certain inherent linguistic and cultural advantages, the survey noted. 
Japan and Korea accounts for about 60 per cent of total exports from China, the share the US and Europe is growing steadily from 15 per cent in 2003 to about 23 per cent in 2005, it added.
Nasscom suggested a collaborative partnership between Indian and Chinese companies. Indian expertise in IT sector combined with manufacturing dominance of China could be one of the possi bility.